LEJOG
Distance walked – 25.4km (15.88miles)
Total Distance – 114km (71.3miles)
I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It’s cloud illusions I recall
I really don’t know clouds at all
Joni Mitchell – Both sides now
Today was a day of cloud and rain. It had to happen. If you are going to undertake a 2000km walk across a small island surrounded by seas you have to expect rain. We set off in rain, it kept raining, and we arrived in rain. It didn’t stop for the entire day. As I sit here writing this post, it is raining gently outside the window. It was the puzzling kind of rain that continually made you think you could take your hood off, but after a minute you realised it was heavier than you thought.
We woke this morning to the picture on the right (compared to yesterday evening on the left). The coastal path crosses the bridge that is underwater in the middle of the picture. It seemed to us that this was a major problem. It was. We consulted the guidebook and realised that the only option was to undertake a long road walk to a bridge and then back to the beach on the other side.
So we set off from The Seiner’s Arms, last night’s accommodation, at 07:30 heading for the road. Luckily, we met an early rising dog walker who asked us where we were going. He kindly pointed us towards a hidden, unsigned staircase between two non-descript houses that would apparently take us back to the beach on the other side of the high tide mark. We followed his instructions, (I thought he looked a bit dodgy, but I was obviously wrong) and following several twists and turns we emerged onto the beach just near the coastal path sign. Thank you to the kindly dog-walker.
The rain started to fall with greater intensity, so we made the decision to don our full wet weather gear of waterproof jacket, trousers and pack covers. We then climbed up a steep sand dune, traversed through the dunes for a kilometre before descending down an extremely steep sandy bank to the long expanse of Perran Beach.
A long beach walk followed. I always find beach walks a little frustrating as you are always searching for the best sand to walk on. “Maybe it’s harder down there”. So you head down there and it isn’t. “Maybe over there”. So you angle up or down. It still seems soft. “I’ll try that vehicle track” but it isn’t any better. “Maybe those footprints will be hard”. Eventually you just have to put your head down and walk.
We got to the end of the beach and climbed up onto the next headland. The wind and rain were very persistent now and we were becoming increasingly bedraggled. Two walkers, like us in full weather-proofs, passed us in the opposite direction. “Good luck” we cried. “Have fun” they responded.
Polly Joke
We passed around Holywell Point, skirting a large deserted army base. There were many sinister looking fenced off buildings with signs warning of non-ionizing radiation and severe penalties for trespassing. We did not linger. . . .
The path led over pretty Holywell Beach through the dunes and over the next headland before crossing the intriguingly named Polly Joke Beach. The name is apparently derived from the cornish Pol-Lejouack meaning jackdaw cove. By this stage, we were wondering if we had missed the memo about staying indoors today. All the beaches were deserted and we had seen so few people all day. Had there been an apocalypse? Were there Triffids on the loose?
The landscape we traversed today continued to subtly change. It became more agricultural as we crossed pastures, and many of the cliff paths skirted the edges of large cultivated fields. One of the joys of the walk we are finding is observing the slow change in the geography and the appearance of our surroundings.
Frederic Gros in his book A Philosophy of Walking, states that `walking is exploring the mystery of presence. Presence to the world, to others and to yourself. You discover when you walk that it emancipates you from space and time and from speed.’ I am intrigued by that thought of being freed from speed or speediness. As the days of this walk progress we can feel our lives becoming slower and les speedy.
The path took us out and above the lovely wide expanse of Crantock Beach where the town of Newquay came into view sitting above our major obstacle for today, the river Gannet. The Gannet is a tidal river and the South West Coast path crosses the river over a tidal bridge that is only accessible a few hours either side of low tide. The alternative is a 4km detour around the river estuary to a road bridge which we were keen to avoid.
We had checked the tide times this morning and thought we should be okay but as the bridge came into view it appeared to be partially submerged.
On closer inspection, only the first half of the bridge had water over it, and it was only about an inch deep. Clutching our walking poles we tip-toed across.
The official path takes a long route around the edge of Newquay so we decided to deviate and used Google Maps to find the quickest route into town where we found a warm cafe for a cornish pasty and coffee. Newquay is a big seaside resort and the town was bustling on this Saturday lunchtime.
After lunch we went to one of the outdoor stores we had passed on our way through the town centre. My gloves are not waterproof and the resulting freezing cold wet hands after the morning of rain had convinced me that I needed to purchase some alternatives. The lady who served us was very interested in our trip and seemed quite impressed by our intention to walk to John o’Groats. Her co-worker looked momentarily interested when he thought we said we had come from John o’Groats but then less so when he realised we had only walked less than 100km from Land’s End.
With new gloves on we marched out of the shop, being waved goodbye by the friendly shop assistant. Louisa paused to put her hood up which got caught on her inner hood. I tried to free it but in the process jabbed her in the eye and then dropped both my walking poles. We sheepishly moved off thinking the shop-worker was probably doubting we could get to the end of the street let alone the end of the country!
Looking back to Newquay
The 8km after lunch was easy walking with some initial urban road walking and then past a series of beaches and seaside holiday resorts. The final few kilometres took us over over increasingly muddy and slippery paths as the rain continued to fall and soak the ground. Luckily no falls, but by the time we arrived in Mawgan Porth (pronounced Morgan) our waterproof trousers were splattered in mud. We cleaned ourselves up as best we could and checked into our pub for the night, The Merrymoor Inn. We seemed to have struck it lucky again with a room overlooking the beach with a view out to sea. We are really enjoying the South West Coast path and are looking forward to following it for another day tomorrow.
Today’s Route
The Seiner’s Arms
Accommodation – We stayed in The Seiner’s Arms last night. It is to be highly recommended. The food was excellent and everyone was very friendly. We were a bit worried when they told us there was a wedding on but we didn’t hear a thing and it was vey quiet all night. They even gave us a continental breakfast delivered to our door when we told them that we had to leave before the breakfast service. It was however the most expensive place we are staying but we think it was worth it for one night.
8 Responses
Loving this! Sounds like a proper adventure day with all the water and bridge crossing
Every day feels like a crazy adventure! xxx
Wow, so impressive guys, walking on sand is tough at the best of times. The landscape looks so beautiful. Keep it coming.
The scene outside the shop!! 🤣🤣 so funny!
It was ridiculous! We were like a comedy double act!
Today’s post (and Marcus’s comment) reminded me of this:
https://semi-rad.com/2016/04/chart-did-you-have-a-good-adventure/
It sounds like you had a good adventure today!
I had to get out my magnifying glass to find the bridge in the top photo!
Have you thought about replacing your countdown timer with a count up timer – time since start?
Love the adventure flow chart!
Nigel loves your count up idea – he’ll get on it.
Brilliant adventure and retelling of said experience, Bravo!
I had a memorable holiday in Newquay in my younger days and can even remember the name of the holiday flats I stayed in.
Tremendous
English seaside holidays – a childhood rite of passage!